Get Britain Working is totally missing the current employment crisis economy

But what has that got to do with anything? There aren’t jobs, even as a graduate or non-graduate.

In my industry, job wages have halved over time. It’s now minimum wage for a high-pressure full-on job that requires a degree, fluency in a foreign language, shift work, including at night and weekends and bank holiday. Many staff have degrees from Oxford or Cambridge and many have master’s degrees.

Two young relatives have finished degrees in nursing and physiotherapy. The nursing one can’t get a job at all, and the physiotherapist is the only one of her large group of physio friends who got a job.

Most employers cannot overpay if the clients won’t use them any more! As @MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack company finds, there’s a shortage of the right staff. Clients are not going to pay London finance rates for regional engineering solutions. You cannot over pay or you’re bankrupt.

We are in the real world, and what you’re describing doesn’t tally with the numerous SMEs we know. Hence sector specifics having an impact.

Agreed.
Dh was made redundant over 7 months ago and has applied for over 60 jobs. He's had 2 interviews and that's it.
He is trying so hard to get a job but just not having any luck! He's been working in his industry since he was 18 and is now 48 so has a wealth of experience.
UC doesn't cover the bills and we are literally hand to mouth. There's nothing in the pipeline. We really do not know what else he can do!

Well, yes. But in the real world, most employers have to think about costs and long term viability. There aren't many that can just write a blank cheque for everyone they employ.

Now, I've no doubt that someone will come back and tell me that, if we can't afford to pay salaries that will attract the right kind of staff, then we are just not viable. And perhaps they would have a point, as the model that has enabled us to attract the right staff for many years is no longer working - the pool of applicants is nowhere near as good now as it was. But from the conversations that I've had with other employers at our local Chambers of Commerce events, we are far from alone in finding this.

We find ways of managing, of course, and we continue to make things work for the time being, but the quality of applicants coming through is a significant concern. In the future, perhaps technology will provide some solutions, but in the meantime, it is a concern.

My area is becoming two new unitary authorities from April '27 and they held off a local election to push it through.

Yes I don’t think the recruitment platform indeed helps. It floods you with unsuitable applicants. Indeed is 25 per day to advertise. Used to be £5 per day within last 5 years. Surely the govt could quickly and cheaply replicate a recruitment platform. But seriously. So many people can’t hold down a job. The support necessary to keep some people stable in work in really significant.

I can’t see local gov reform happening in the lifetime of this government, if at all.

To be fair there has been a lot in the press around this recently. This article below is a general article on it, but around July when nurses graduate there was loads of articles. I dont think it was ever 'no jobs, none at all" but there was definitely an issue of no way near the number of jobs out there.

I think some announcement has been made to ease the situation for student nurses but I've seen more recent articles from Swansea student nurses worrying there are no jobs to graduate into next year. The BMA, Midwifery Association and Chartered Physiotherapist Society have recently campaigned to stop the freeze which is locking new entrants out.

https://healthcaretoday.com/article/nhs-recruitment-freezes-what-does-it-mean-for-the-industry

Pharmacies are closing left right and centre due to lack of funding but also cite a lack of pharmacists. This is so not true!! There is a lack of pharmacists who are willing to work for £19 an hour which is how low some places have got now. Why would you put yourself through 4 years of uni plus 1 year of training to work for that. There is so much responsibility and you have the risk of killing someone if you give the wrong drugs.

So next time you see your local pharmacy is closed because they couldn’t find a pharmacist that is why! They would rather stay closed than pay a decent rate to a locum. If you have any kids considering studying pharmacy, tell them to avoid as it’s not a good career move.

If you pay enough you’ll get the people you’re after. It will get to that point where price matches what you want, like anything in a market.

Because clearly none of us have ever considered benchmarking against comparable roles from other sectors?

Then it could be a sector salary issue. If you’re all benchmarking against each other it’s too low compared with other options outside the sector. Like anything paying more is more attractive.

Yes and yes.

Do you know people with similar companies? Are they having the same problem?

I agree with you, but it does feel as if a lot of employers are not looking for those things and are rewarding something else. I know of brilliant people with a fantastic track record who are being managed out. I know of people whose hiring process went for months- in one case it was nearly 6 months from interview to start date, and four months between job offer and start date. The delays were entirely due to the HR department, the candidate had provided everything promptly and so had the line manager. That isn’t right, but it’s not an isolated case, and it’s not the only failing in that department.

As an employer, I would argue that the people skills/ability to think on your feet are actually far more important than the grades.

Not saying that intelligence and analytical/critical thinking skills are not important - in some cases, they are essential. But there are very few roles in which these qualities will be of much use if you can't actually apply your knowledge effectively, communicate your ideas to others or work well as part of a team.

You re just making stuff up now.

There has been some trust recruitment freezes but it is not a universal one at all.

Just been on my local trusts vacancies page, nurses and midwifery section - many jobs, not all entry level but there are some, same in Allied Health.
Livewell, a private company that is basically an NHS communities provider, also has job vacancies, across all levels.

The numbers IN work has increased by over 400k in the last 12 months.

As been said many times before, the right wing moan about tax rises but still, apparently, want the the things they would pay for, unable to say how they would fund these.

Streeting is implementing change, this means disruption, how do you get change if you just carry on as before.

@Jasperisthis is true, my mum has been offered early retirement.

You’re out of date. All NHS trusts have frozen recruitment. It’s not that we don’t need the staff and it’s not that we don’t have people who could do it, it’s that the government will not pay for healthcare staff.

I know several youngsters who have been used to staff wards on placement, have come out with the huge debts - have effectively paid to work - only to be told there’s no jobs.

I know several others who have, seeing this, dropped out of nursing courses or are abandoning plans to pursue this career.

These are dedicated people who have been economically exploited and abused.

I have to agree. I've interviewed people recently and the ability of people to give a decent interview and be prepared was quite low.

I personally went to some interview skills training in my 20s delivered by an amazing recruiter who I'm sure was neurodivergent as she literally prepped the hell out of me in the best way possible.

We literally did an entire mock interview, then I prepped, then we did it again, over about 4-5 days. My success rate with getting interviews and securing roles has been really high since then. I never reveal age on my CV.

She doesn't offer training anymore sadly. Defo a gap for this kind of service. I was diagnosed ND in my late 30s.

I think nurses have to be flexible about where they will work. Good luck to her anyway. If DS has some work experience, that’s a great start. If he’s volunteered, does that sector employ grads?

He does currently have a part time job for the Christmas period and has done voluntary work in the past. Degree is Pyschology. He is also hindered by social anxiety ( possibly ASD ). I hope he will be ok, he is trying his best. I just keep reading MN threads regarding Nurses not being able to get jobs and dd says this is the case for lots in the cohort a year ahead of her. hopefully the situation may change by the time she graduates in 18 months time.

Redundancies are coming for NHS and local govt with the formation of unitary councils. I don't know what people will find instead. There isn't much around.

This is important.

I’ve been looking for a new role for at least a year, because I have a long and expensive commute.

The problem is that wages seem to have absolutely collapsed; some similar roles to mine are now advertised at around 30k - I couldn’t pay my bills on a salary that’s one full third of what I earn now.